Growing Older, But Not Up -Jimmy Buffett

Today I turn 30. Most people dread it, but I don’t feel that way. I’m incredibly lucky. I can’t believe I’m where I’ve always wanted to be. I take care of the horses twice a day (hay, grain, filling water troughs, and cleaning stalls) and then I have the rest of the day to update my website, write, take photos, ride or train horses, and play with my dog.

Today, I rode Honey before I cleaned stalls. (That’s one of the joys of barn ownership. You can decide when you want to muck stalls, and when you want to ride instead.) Honey loves to play with things, and she’ s going through an oral stage where she’s mouthing everything–including cones.

It’s worth mentioning that Bandit is currently laying at my feet, fully intact with all her cognitive functions. That’s the best birthday present of all. She still has a large sore by her eye, and it appears that she’ll have a slightly misshapen skull on the left side of her head, but I don’t care. I have my Bandit back.

The horses were fantastic, too. I played with Honey and rode her Western. She and I had so much fun! She’s able to reverse on the haunches, almost can turn on the haunches, and we’re working on sidepassing and turn on the forehand. She’s sidepassing and half-passing well, except her rump keeps curving so she’s walking straight in a diagonal direction instead of walking diagonally. She’s trying, though. Honey is also beginning to show signs of understanding what I want when I ask for the Spanish walk. Her right front leg is good, but her left just lifts and doesn’t reach forward. We’ll get there. I’m keeping her long, lovely tail in a tail bag so it stays clean. Keeping a tail white is not an easy task.

Honey loves Yoda. She chased him through the aisle and indoor arena today.The cats were very active when I was riding, so I took photos just for fun.

Melody is Jealous. She doesn’t like it when I play with Honey so much and “neglect” her. The brat stepped on my foot today. She knew she was stepping on it, too. I’m going to have a bruise.

Everyone else is doing well. They all love their bran mashes, and liked getting extra hay inside this morning since the wind was strong.

The cute pony nose above belongs to Coffee. He sticks his nose through the feed slot every morning and night, hoping he can snatch some extra bran mash as I walk by.

So far, today’s been wonderful. I’m enjoying my life, my dog, my horses, and my new camera. Everything’s peachy. I’ll enjoy “One More Ride On a Trip Around The Sun.”